<p>The Ediacarans are a weird bunch of organisms that included the world's first large-scale complex life. During the time they lived (635-542 million years ago) in southern Australia, the Earth experienced at least one cold snap that may have covered much of the Earth in ice.<br /><br />At that time, southern Australia lay near Equator and low latitudes were devastated by impact of a 4.7-km-diameter asteroid that left a 90-km crater in central South Australia.<br /><br />Now, a team of Australian geologists shows that this massive impact -- which struck with an estimated energy of 5.2 million megatons of TNT - coincided with period of glaciation, the 'Australian Journal of Earth Sciences' reported.<br /><br />The effect of this double whammy -- extreme cold and killer asteroid -- could have been a major factor influencing the evolution of the Ediacarans, say the geologists.<br /><br />"Release from the combined environmental stresses of a frigid, glacial climate near sea level and a major impact in low latitudes may have been a factor influencing subsequent Ediacaran biotic evolution," said team leader Victor Gostin of University of Adelaide.</p>
<p>The Ediacarans are a weird bunch of organisms that included the world's first large-scale complex life. During the time they lived (635-542 million years ago) in southern Australia, the Earth experienced at least one cold snap that may have covered much of the Earth in ice.<br /><br />At that time, southern Australia lay near Equator and low latitudes were devastated by impact of a 4.7-km-diameter asteroid that left a 90-km crater in central South Australia.<br /><br />Now, a team of Australian geologists shows that this massive impact -- which struck with an estimated energy of 5.2 million megatons of TNT - coincided with period of glaciation, the 'Australian Journal of Earth Sciences' reported.<br /><br />The effect of this double whammy -- extreme cold and killer asteroid -- could have been a major factor influencing the evolution of the Ediacarans, say the geologists.<br /><br />"Release from the combined environmental stresses of a frigid, glacial climate near sea level and a major impact in low latitudes may have been a factor influencing subsequent Ediacaran biotic evolution," said team leader Victor Gostin of University of Adelaide.</p>